SPIRIT IN MATTERS: Taking a Higher View of Life on Earth
By Dianne Eppler Adams

Vol. 2, No 14– November 10, 2004
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FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT...

    Opening Life’s Flow with Gratitude

Ever notice how easy it is to focus on what is missing or not quite right in life? Much of my life had been spent focused on what wasn’t there – not enough money, not enough friends, not enough time. You name it! All that was good got disregarded, while I focused on the bad.

Then I discovered the magic of gratitude. Opening up my view to encompass all that is in my life, it became apparent that all the while my life had been a wonderful stream of people and activities, each offering me a little more happiness, more abundance, and more possibilities.

How does that work? Since thoughts create, my thoughts of not enough continued to produce in like manner so that I continued to find areas of my life that fell short of my expectations. I perpetuated my own unhappiness.

By the same token, when I realized the power of thoughts to create, I experimented with consciously seeking to notice all that was good in my life, while feeling thankful and expressing gratitude for what I found. Guess what, more good showed up! I found even more reasons to be thankful!

Here’s a simple exercise that will increase the flow of good in your life: Every evening as you are about to fall to sleep, review the activities of your day with a focus on gratitude for all the good that happened. Don’t take for granted the little things. Include them as well. Then observe how your world changes.

And if you really want to boost the love in your relationship, try sitting down with your beloved while each of you share what you are grateful for in the other person. It can positively recharge a relationship that has fallen into a rut. Try it!

Remember what you focus on expands. Focus on gratitude for all that you have in your life and you will be flooded with more.

Happy Thanksgiving all year long!

(Your comments are always welcome at SpiritInMatters@aol.com.)
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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION...

COMING CLEAN
By Catherine Austin Fitts and Christina Engelbart
http://www.solari.com/campaign/coming_clean.htm

"The only devils in the world are those running around in our own hearts -- that is where the battle should be fought."
– Mahatma Gandhi

We are often asked why we are happy and optimistic about our future. We are far from oblivious to the risks and pain in our environment. Yet, we believe that we can have a wonderful world, and that the path to our collective well being begins with each of us transforming from the inside out – coming clean. With prayers, positive intentions, actions and transactions, we have the power to shift energy away from those who misuse their power and do harm in the world and move it to ourselves and to those who are worthy stewards of our planet's wealth and our children's future.
[Follow link to more of this article and a very interesting website.]


JOE FIRMAGE ON "PEAK OIL", "THE SIGNULARITY" & KEN WILBER
By Joe Firmage, November 2, 2004
http://firmage.org

It's been a long time since I last sent a message to you. So much has
transpired in the past 3+ years, it's hard to know where to start. I'll be
sending a few messages to you in coming months, exploring several vital
issues and a fascinating, compelling project I'm leading that is scheduled
to launch in the first half of 2005.

But on the day of an election almost universally seen as a key inflection
point for the United States and the world, I'd like to share some thoughts
on issues bigger than those talked about by either candidate for President.

A Forcing Function for a New Civilization

Since the paradigm-shattering attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. has
declared a "war on terror that will not end in our lifetimes". The Bush
administration has established a new pre-emptive National Security policy,
radically expanded budgets for defensive and offensive military operations,
invaded two countries, only one of which -- even according to the official
story now -- harbored real threats to our nation, and cracked down on civil
liberties at home.

The results so far: the Muslim world is inflamed toward the U.S. like never
before in the history of our nation. Afghanistan remains significantly in
the control of warlords, yet is struggling to achieve stability amidst
hopeful elections, resistant fundamentalists and a record-setting, exploding
heroin trade that remains central to its economy. And the primary objective
of that war -- Osama bin Laden -- remains at large.

For the moment, at least, Iraq appears to be spinning out of control. Daily
attacks on troops, contractors and Iraqi officials are rising. Beheadings of
hostages are horrifying a world that relied upon pronouncements of Bush and
Blair that a different kind of outcome would follow from their attempt at
liberation. As a result of the chaos unleashed in Iraq, it seems painfully
likely that new Osama bin Ladens are being minted every time Iraqis witness
the dismemberment of their family members -- now numbering at least in the
tens of thousands.

In Iraq we can see the inevitable Newtonian reaction to unilateral
occupation by a foreign culture, reaffirming laws of social physics we
should have learned many wars ago.

Meanwhile, the central vortex of Middle-East conflict between Israelis and
Palestinians remains largely ignored by Washington. And its temperature
continues to rise. In the past three years, thousands have died, a new
20-foot-high Biblical Wall -- unthinkable in 2000 -- is now racing towards
completion, and politics on both sides of that wall continue to polarize.

In this context, it is essential that people around the world explore
whether the objectives of U.S. foreign policy are actually that same as
those officially declared by the Bush administration. For it is possible
that the real objectives are quite different than those you know about. It
is possible that the real objectives have a lot to do with an epochal crisis
facing human civilization, an event likely known best to oil men. It is an
event that will challenge every aspect of our modern life, an event that is
just now breaking into public view: Peak Oil.

The Energy Crisis

If you have followed my writings in the past five years, you know that I
have supported efforts to discover new solutions to this epic challenge of
our time: developing new, non-polluting energy and propulsion technologies
for the growing appetites of modern society.

In the past six months, it has become clear to me that we are running out of
time to respond to this challenge, much more rapidly than I previously
expected. It is increasingly clear that our world will soon experience an
event called Peak Oil. The implications are beyond serious. The implications
are almost beyond description. The implications are urgent, perhaps even
more so than the problems of terrorism or global trade or domestic social
contracts.

Why? Peak Oil is the moment in time when humanity has consumed half or more
of the oil cheaply available for exploitation. Thereafter, the aggregate
production of oil begins a permanent decline, its price begins a permanent
climb, and the global economy begins to destabilize.

Oil doesn't just propel our cars. It lights, heats, cools and powers our
homes. It makes every piece of plastic, prints every computer chip, carves
every beam of steel and wood, prepares every bite of food we eat, and
delivers every drop of water we drink. It enables you to read this email.
[Follow link for more explanation of the details.]

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A Post-Election Prescription:
"What will come of all this on Nov. 3? Some will pick up the morning paper and save it for a souvenir, and the others will wrap up the garbage in it. What will reconcile us is what has always restored our sanity, and that is the plain pleasures of the physical world, our common love of coffee, the world of apples, the movement of birds, the lives of dogs, the touch of skin. . . .

Having worked ourselves into a fever over the future of Western civilization, we will now begin enjoying our oatmeal again, with raisins, chopped apricots and honey from bees that grazed in meadows of clover. The beauty of engagement is disengagement. You simply put on your jacket and walk out the door and find good health. There is no fever that a 10-mile hike* can't cure."
--Garrison Keillor, writer and recovering political partisan, 2004

*or a donation to a charity, or helping a neighbor, or simply bringing newspapers to the animal shelter, or visiting someone in a nursing home...life goes on, on the most basic of levels.

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©2004 Spirit in Matters: Taking a Higher View of Life on Earth
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